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Laurie Dippenaar

Banker and entrepreneur

By South African Index Editorial Desk · Published

Illustrative placeholder portrait; this is not a photograph of the person.
Illustrative placeholder; no verified photograph available.: Domdomegg · Source · CC0 1.0. Resized and converted to WebP for this site.

Laurie Dippenaar was one of the three entrepreneurs behind the business that became Rand Merchant Bank and FirstRand, alongside GT Ferreira and Paul Harris. [1][2]

Biography

RMB records that Dippenaar, Ferreira and Harris founded a small structuring house in 1977 with R10,000 in start-up capital. That venture developed into Rand Merchant Bank. [1]

The three men later became associated with the formation of FirstRand in 1998. A FirstRand chairman’s report describes Dippenaar and Ferreira as founders and Harris as the third member of the founding trio. [2]

Dippenaar later served as chairman of FirstRand and remained part of the group’s leadership after its formation. His career is therefore linked to both RMB’s origin and the later creation of FirstRand. [3][2]

Key contributions

Co-founded the 1977 financial structuring business that evolved into Rand Merchant Bank. [1]

Helped create and later chair FirstRand. [2][3]

Career timeline

  1. Co-founded the business that became RMB with GT Ferreira and Paul Harris. [1]

  2. Became part of the founding leadership of FirstRand. [2]

  3. Served as FirstRand chairman. [3]

Associated organisations

Sources

  1. Rand Merchant Bank, Sustainability Report 2010: Corporate profile, 2010-06-30. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  2. FirstRand, Chairman’s report 2018, 2018-06-30. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  3. FirstRand, Chairman’s statement 2009, 2009-06-30. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩